


ICARUS

by pyrality



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 08:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyrality/pseuds/pyrality
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya is seventeen when he realizes he is in love with the human embodiment of the sun, Kise Ryouta.





	ICARUS

**Author's Note:**

> i don’t recall if i ever published this and then took it down? if i did, then i apologize for the repost

Kise laughs, the sound warm like sunshine, bright like starlight in the countryside, and Kuroko feels his heart kickstart into overdrive and hot blood rush to his cheeks. The realization hits him like a cold blast of water to the face, like a slap on the back; sharp with icy realization and stinging pain. 

Kise Ryouta is many things: the golden boy, the star athlete, the rising model, the charming heartbreaker, the sweet classmate, and he is the brightest entity Kuroko Tetsuya has ever met.

(He must be some kind of idiot— how could he not have _known?_ )

Kuroko drops his hands from the table to his lap, feeling stupid and juvenile. The collar of his shirt is suddenly stifling against his sweaty skin, pale and vulnerable under the hot summer setting sun streaming in through the diner’s window. He swallows, Adam’s Apple bobbing thickly in his throat, thinking he might be suffocating under Kise’s bright and confused eyes. The blond tilts his head, oblivious and innocent, brow starting to pinch in concern, and Kuroko can’t stop _shaking_.

Kuroko Tetsuya is seventeen when he realizes he is in love with Kise Ryouta.  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
Kise's pretty.

Kuroko closes the magazine and tosses it away from him, bringing his hands up to cover his warm face. The images of Kise are already burned into his memory, and all he sees when he closes his eyes is the blond's sharp cheekbones and playful smile and hooded eyes under long eyelashes. Kuroko makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, dropping his hands from his face. His gaze wanders back over to the cover of the fall edition magazine where Kise is on the cover, dressed in a sweater and skinny jeans, grinning wide and bright eyed, and he feels warm under his skin again.

Kuroko clamors to his feet and goes to his bedroom door to let Nigou in. He squats down and picks up the husky into his arms, cradling him as he makes his way over to his bed. He burrows under the sheets, curling around his dog. Nigou whines in concern and licks at his chin and Kuroko closes his eyes and shakes his head, shushing the husky.

Maybe it’ll pass.  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
(It doesn’t pass.)  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
Being in love with Kise Ryouta, Kuroko realizes, is a little like being in love with the sun. 

He’s fleeting when he’s there; summery, too hot. He lingers after he leaves, the way the heat of the sun burns under your skin, a pleasant warmth that lasts for a few hours afterwards. 

(He wonders sometimes if he would be burned if he tried to touch the other teen.) 

Kuroko likes basking in Kise’s smile, blinding, bright, and affectionate; likes the way Kise dotes on him, an eager-to-please puppy. At the same time, it’s stifling, because Kise is the sun and being with him for too long is just a reminder of how enraptured he has become in a young and too bright boy named Kise Ryouta.

“Kurokocchi,” Kise murmurs, breath warm on his ear and neck, and Kuroko just barely shudders. The blond clasps his hands on his shoulders softly. “You’re tense. You seem stressed lately,” he says carefully, thoughtful as he starts kneading Kuroko’s shoulders gently. “Is everything okay?” he asks, sounding genuinely concerned.

Kuroko melts under Kise’s fingers, tension flowing out of his muscles and he feels a rush of embarrassment when Kise hums, seemingly pleased. It feels like a trust fall, Kuroko thinks faintly, as the blond continues to massage the knots out of his shoulders. He wonders if Kise knows he is the sun of Kuroko’s life, bright through the winter snow, shining through the rain, warm through the window to his bedroom.

He reaches up and covers Kise’s hand with his own and the blond stills behind him, breath hitching.

(Kuroko Tetsuya is afraid of becoming Icarus.)  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
“Kurokocchi,” Kise says, voice soft but wavering, warm with promises. His eyes are bright, shining; gold like perfect sand. “I missed you."

“I know,” Kuroko says, but he knows he’s already messed up because it comes out too quickly, not brusque enough. “How was your vacation?"

(It must’ve been nice; his skin is darker, toned gold.)

“It was good,” Kise answers, smiling. He tilts his head, sticking his hands into his pockets. His eyes crinkle at the corners, warm and inviting. “I think it would’ve been better if you were there."

"I think," Kuroko swallows, meets Kise's gaze, "it was a vacation for me while you were gone."

The blond laughs a little, bright, and words like this never hurt Kise anymore. They've been playing this game for too long; Kuroko feels cornered. "Kurokocchi is heartless as always. That's your best quality though."

"Masochist," he accuses.

Kise grins, ruffles a hand through his own hair. Kuroko's distracted by the flower hair clip slipping off near his ear, by the dimples in his cheeks. "Guilty as charged," he jokes. “I’m too soft for you."

Kuroko lets out a breath, and then looks away. The silence is an admission, and Kise walks away from it, patient as ever.  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
Kagami doesn’t shrug him off when he leans his head against his shoulder, instead continuing to thumb through the channels on the TV. Kuroko fiddles with his phone, staring at the blank email he has open with the intention of sending to Kise asking to meet up tomorrow. There’s coiling anxiety in the pit of his stomach, burning, and his fingers are getting sweaty against his phone. He thinks about how Kise once told him, drunk off his feet at a party at Kagami’s house, that Kuroko could have anyone he wanted.

“You’re an idiot, you know,” Kagami says offhandedly, uninterested gaze still on the television.

Kuroko hears himself make an affronted noise, snapping his phone shut. “You are the last person I want to hear that from, Kagami-kun.” He tilts his head back against the redhead’s shoulder, frowning up at his friend.

Kagami ignores him. “He’s in love with you too,” he says instead, glancing down at him from the corner of his eyes. He sets the remote down, settling on a channel with some action movie playing. He sighs, scratching his head as he brings his feet up to rest on the coffee table, crossing his legs. "You’ve known that for ages.”

Kuroko stays quiet for awhile. “You should be telling me to give up on him,” he says finally.

He wishes Kagami would. He wishes someone would tell him to stay away from the lamp lights in Kise’s honey gold eyes, wishes someone would warn him of the furnace of warmth of Kise’s sugar sweet smiles. He wishes his mother told him that falling in love is hard and makes you feel dumb and helpless.

“Why?” the Seirin ace snorts, reaches over and presses his pointer finger against the closed flip phone in Kuroko’s hands. He gives him a pointed look. “You wouldn’t listen. It’s just what you want to hear, but it doesn’t change anything in the end.”

Kagami knows him too well; knows he can’t stay away— that he’s _tried_. (All that resulted from that was a very confused and very hurt Kise that lingered on the edges of his fingertips, politely distant, until Kuroko initiated closer contact again.) Kuroko knows that better than anyone else that he’s become invested in the golden boy, unable to thrive without his source of sunlight.

(Would it have been better to compare Kise to moonlight or starlight? At least then, he is not warm, only bright.)

“I’m sorry,” Kuroko says quietly, closing his eyes. He leans his weight into Kagami, slumping down on the couch further. "You’re right.”

“Idiot,” the redhead murmurs, but his voice is gentle and fond, and it’s moments like these that Kuroko wishes he was in love with Kagami instead, because at least, Kagami is willing to call him out.

(Some part of him craves to see Kise bare his teeth at him and reprimand him with a low and sharp voice. Because the truth is, he hates it when Kise offers him that usual sugar sweet smile and looks at him with warm and patient bright gold eyes to hide the hurt.)

Kuroko turns to hide his face into the redhead’s shoulder, fingers closing in Kagami’s shirt. His skin feels raw and vulnerable as he rubs his cheek against cotton. “Thank you for being my friend.”

“You’re dumb,” the taller teen sighs, ruffling a hand through his coral blue hair. The action is tender, familiar in ways that make Kuroko ache a little when he remembers how he used to brush off Kise's hand back in their Teiko years and how Kise refrains from touching him now. “I’m always here if you need me.”

He feels warm under his skin and buries his face deeper in the redhead's arm. “You’re embarrassing, Kagami-kun.”

“Shut up.”  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
Akashi reaches up and brushes Kise's bangs aside, tucking his locks behind his ear, smiling, "Ryouta, you look well."

"I am!" Kise replies cheerfully. He grins as he sticks his hands into his pockets, shoulders hunching up as he rocks on the heels of his feet excitedly. "Akashicchi, we're playing each other in round one of Winter Cup this year!"

"Yes," Akashi affirms, smiling again and he looks gentle in ways that make Kuroko wonder if that's the kind of expression Kise has been trying to coax out of himself for all these years. "I'm looking forward to it.”

(Briefly, he wonders if Kise means it when he tells him “I’m looking forward to seeing you again” every time they part.)  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
“You look… good, Kise-kun,” Kuroko manages, willing himself not to blush. He bites the inside of his cheek, dropping his gaze to the blond’s chest when Kise blinks at him. “Your hair is nice,” he adds hurriedly as an afterthought. His cheeks feel warm and his fingers close into fists in his coat pockets. He glances up carefully at the other teen under his lashes.

“It’s… the same as always though?” Kise says slowly, confused, scratching his flushed cheek nervously. “Kurokocchi, are you okay?”

Frustrated, Kuroko throws his fist out to lightly punch the blond’s stomach, turning away abruptly. “I’m fine!” he says loudly, trying not to stomp as he starts walking away.

“Wait, Kurokocchi!” Kise whines, muffled footsteps padding against the snow as he hurries to catch up to Kuroko. “Ah, I’m sorry, you just don’t normally compliment me! I’m sorry,” he says when he catches up. He smiles, and his voice is softer, quieter, and more affectionate when he adds, "that was sweet of you.”

“Who said it was a compliment?” Kuroko hunches his shoulders defensively, hiding his mouth behind his scarf. He feels hot under his clothes with his heart thudding loudly in his chest and wonders if this is how Kise feels when he flirts. “It was an observation.”

Kise smiles, giddy, almost humming when he tilts his head and says, “But it was a nice observation.”

“Shut up, Kise-kun,” Kuroko says, embarrassed by how his voice cracks.

“Okay, okay,” Kise hums, expression bright and cheerful in a way that makes something inside of Kuroko ache. "Thanks anyway, Kurokocchi.”  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
“I’m sorry,” Kuroko breathes out, stilted, almost stammering. “Kise-kun."

He feels bare and vulnerable under Kise’s confused staring. His chest is tight and his mouth is dry under the other teen’s sunlight gold gaze that has never been full of anything but love and patience. Kuroko doesn’t feel he deserves Kise’s quiet devotion after everything he’s done, but he swallows past the dryness in his throat and opens his mouth to continue.

“I’m in love with you.”

Kise’s breath hitches and a startled, high-pitched nervous laugh comes tinkling out of his mouth. His body is visibly tense under the layers of clothing he’s wearing, awkward and stiff when he shifts his foot to scuff the tip of his boot against the snow-covered pavement. He reaches up, closing his eyes, and presses the heel of his palm against his forehead. His golden bangs spill over the edge of his fingers to fan across the back of his hand.

“Kurokocchi,” he says, voice tight, brow furrowing deeper as he squeezes his eyes tighter. “Please don’t play games with me.”

“I’m not,” Kuroko blurts out hurriedly, reaching out to fist a hand in Kise’s jacket. The blond jolts, eyes snapping open in surprise. “Kise-kun— _Ryouta_ ,” he corrects himself, feeling his cheeks flush. "I genuinely—“

Kise grabs him, slender fingers curving under his chin to tilt his head up, a desperate and breathless quiet noise escaping his lips before he leans down and kisses Kuroko.  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
(Kuroko Tetsuya is seventeen when he realizes he is in love with Kise Ryouta and he is eighteen when he finally realizes, with the heaviness leaving his heart, that he is not Icarus.)  
  
  
  
~*~


End file.
